.<i>' 






■>^ . « • 



^> 



'^.^ 






0' 



V 



"1. 4 ^ S • ° 









c »rv 



C ♦ J 



A^ 























' A O *^s' G^ 






A <v *7t^T* G^ ^D 'o.»» A ^ 

G^ ^D 'o . . * 






A 







A <> -^r. ** .G' v^^ 'o.** A 









m 



62 




GEORGK FRISBIE HOAK 
Born August 29, 1S26. Died September 30, 1904. 



The Character of Washington. 



AN ADDRESS BY 



Senator George Frisbie Hoar, 

BEING HIS LAST PUBLIC UTTERANCE, 

WITH OTHER SPEECHES, 

DELIVERED JUNE 17th, 1904. PUBLISHED FROM THE STENOGRAPHIC 
NOTES OF MISS M. LOUISE JACKSON. 



BOSTON : 

PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, 

1904. 






LIBRARY Of CCNGRSSS 
Two Copies Keceive 

DEC 9 iyU4 

/^Oouyrifeiii tiitry 

CUSS a, xxc, ?ioi 



"" I ilii ^lii r ini 



Copyright, 1904, bv R. H. W. Dwi«ht. 



The City of Worcester, having accepted from the Society of the 
Sons of the Revolution in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
the gift of a number of engraved copies of the Stuart portrait 
of Washington, to be placed in all the principal public school 
buildings of the city, at the suggestion of the School Committee 
exercises were held, and the presentation took place, on the after- 
noon of Friday, June 17th, 1904, at the English High School 
Hall. 

Senator George Frisbie Hoar, a member of the Society, was 
present, and, although by reason of the condition of his health, 
not originally assigned to speak, made a brief address in response 
to the request of the chairman which proved to be one of his 
most interesting, eloquent and delightful, — and which, alas ! was 
the last public utterance of that eminent man. 

The historian of the Society being charged with the duty of 
recording such events, had arranged for a stenographic report 
of the entire proceedings which the Society now publishes as a 
memorial to its distinguished member. Senator Hoar spoke upon 
the character of Washington, a subject which he was abundantly 
qualified to discuss, without the impediment of a manuscript, or 
the least indication of any abatement of his extraordinary powers. 
His apt wit, discriminating analysis, just characterization, fund of 
anecdote and grace of diction were never more in evidence. The 
brief speeches which had preceded served but as a setting to 
his, — a sparkling gem of oratory, worthy of any place or any 
treasury. As he said in closing, the occasion was one of the most 
beautiful and successful he had ever known. 

At the conclusion, how few of his auditors realized that his 
last public utterance had been made ; that the eloquent lips would 
all too soon be silent ; but what more fitting subject could have 
been chosen for the last words of any American orator than his 
theme, "The Character of Washington." 

EBEN FRANCIS THOMPSON. 



Worcester, Mass., October 18, 1904. 



Exercises on the Occasion of the Presen- 
tation OF Copies of the Stuart 
Portrait of George 
Washington. 

As a result of the acceptance by tlie City of Worcester 
of the offer of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution to 
present framed copies of the Stuart portrait of Washington 
for all the principal public school buildings of Worcester, 
Committees of Arrangements and Reception were appointed 
as follows : 

On the part of the School Committee : 

Charles R. Johnson, Esq., Chairman, 
Rev. Vincent E. Tomlinson, Dr. Louis P. de Grandpre, 
William H. Cook, Esq., Dr. Francis A. Underwood, 

Homer P. Lewis, Esq., Joseph Beals, Esq. 

Oil the part of the Sons of the Revolution : 

Hon. Stephen Salisbury, Chairman, 
Samuel S. Green, Esq., Hon. William T. Forbes, 

Eben F. Thompson, Esq., J. Russel Marble, Esq., 

George B. Inches, Esq., Hon. Daniel Kent, 

Gen. Fred W. Wellington, John H. Coes, Esq., 

Frank A. Leland, Esq. 

On June 17th, at 2.30 p. m., the following gentlemen 
met in the office of his Honor the Mayor, Walter H. 
Blodget, as a reception committee : 



His Honor the Mayor, Walter H. Blodget, 

Charles R. Johnson, Esq., Chairman of School Committee, 

Rev. Vincent E. Tomlinson, 

William H. Cook, Esq., and 

Dr. Louis P. de Grandpre, of the School Committee, 

Hon. Stephen Salisbury, 

Hon. William T. Forbes, 

J. RussEL Marble, Esq., 

Hon. Daniel Kent, 

Eben F. Thompson, Esq., 

John H. Coes, Esq., 

Gen. Fred W. Wellington, 

Frank A. Leland, Esq., 

Homer P. Lewis, Esq., Superintendent of Worcester Public 

Schools, 
Joseph Beals, Esq., Secretary of the School Committee. 

The Committee took carriages and repaired to the sta- 
tion, and upon the arrival of the train received Richard 
Henry Winslow Dwight, President of the Society of the 
Sons of the Revolution in the Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts, Walter Oilman Page, Registrar of the General 
Society, Rev. Edward Hunting Rudd, Chaplain of the 
State Society, and Harry Young, Esq., of the Board of 
Managers. 

The Committee and guests drove to the English High 
School Hall, where they were joined by United States 
Senator, the Hon. George Frisbie Hoar, a life member of 
the Society, the Hon. Henry A. Marsh, and the Rev. John 
J. Putnam, a member of the Society and himself the son of 
a Revolutionary soldier. All of the above named gentle- 
men occupied seats upon the platform. 

The exercises, beginning at 3.30 p. m., were in accord- 
ance with the following programme, and the addresses 
were as follows : 



Programme. 



"Grand American Fantasia," ..... Bendix, 
High School Orchestra. 

INTRODUCTION by the Presiding Officer, 

Charles R. Johnson, Chairman of the School Committee. 

ADDRESS OF WELCOME by His Honor, 

Walter H. Blodget, Mayor. 

RESPONSE in behalf of the Sons of the Revolution, 

Richard Henry Winslow Dwight, President. 

CORNET SOLO, "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp," . Rollinson. 

Edward S. McGrath. 

PRESENTATION OF PORTRAITS, 

Eben Francis Thompson. 

RESPONSES IN ACCEPTANCE, 

Rev. Vincent E. Tomlinson, 
SuPT. Homer P. Lewis, 

Dr. Louis P. de Grandpre. 

THE ART OF STUART, 

Walter Oilman Page, Registrar of the General Society. 

THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON, 

Address by Senator George Frisbie Hoar. 

"The American Patrol," Meacham. 

High School Orchestra. 



Mr. Johnson: 

Ladies and Gentlemen: — We are met on this historic 
day, the one hundred and twenty-ninth anniversary of 
Bunker Hill, to publicly receive and properly acknowledge 
the valuable gift to the City of Worcester from the Society 
of the Sons of the Revolution. This beautiful gift is an 
engraving in commemoration of him who was called, 
" First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his 
countrymen;" of whom it was said by his distinguished 
Virginian eulogist, " He sleeps beneath the shade of the 
everlasting laurel, which stretches its mighty branches 
athwart the lapse of ages; " but of whom it may be said, 
as did Tacitus of Agricola, — In the affections of his peo- 
ple he lives and will live forever. 

The official representatives of the Society of the Sons 
of the Revolution are here present, — and to them and to 
all a welcome will now be extended by his Honor the 
Mayor. 

I have the pleasure of introducing to you Walter H. 
Blodget, Mayor of Worcester. 

Mayor Blodget: 

Mr. Chairman, Honored Guests, Sons of the Revolution, 
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, — for I see there 
are quite a good many boys and girls here to-day, and I 
only wish that there were more here. In behalf of the 
City of Worcester I extend to you a most cordial and 
hearty welcome to our city. We are glad to have you 
come here ; and we are glad to welcome you coming, as 
you do, on such a noble errand. 

The work which this organization is doing at present is 
certainly a work which is very commendable. Not only do 



we, as men and women, at the present time appreciate, 
and benefit from these gifts, but our children and our 
children's children will be better off for the gifts which this 
Society is making to our city, and to other cities and towns 
throughout the State. 

We are certainly very glad to have these representative 
men come here, and I know that we all appreciate the gift 
which they are about to present to us, and we shall cer- 
tainly be very thankful to them for it, and in behalf of 
the city I welcome you here. 



Mr. Johnson: It now gives me pleasure to introduce 
to you the President of the Society of the Sons of the Rev- 
olution, Richard Henry Winslow Dwight, whose ancestors 
in many lines were engaged in our colonial struggles and 
through the Revolutionary war: — President Dwight, of 
the Society of the Sons of the Revolution. 

Mr. Dwight: 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Pupils of the 
Worcester Public Schools : — It is a pleasant duty this after- 
noon, which the Society of the Sons of the Revolution is 
permitted to perform. 

Our Society was organized not for the purpose of self- 
glorification but for patriotic work, because our members 
and officers appreciate that patriotic work has many rami- 
fications, and that our responsibilities to the state and 
nation, lying along the lines for which our Society was 
organized, are of abundant proportions. 

The ancestors of many of those who are to-day among 
our foremost citizens came over in the " Mayflower." 
Many others are descended from those who arrived more 



recentl}^ It is also true that those who are likely to carry 
the burden of our Government in the years to come, are 
to-day flocking to our shores in the steerage of the " Sax- 
onia" or the " Kaiser Wilhelm." 

I recently attended patriotic exercises at the Paul Re- 
vere School in Boston, and I presume that conditions there 
are not unlike those in Worcester, where your great indus- 
tries employ so much labor. In that school district there 
are 2,700 pupils, 75% foreign born, 95% children of Russian 
and Italian parents. Some few years ago in this same 
section of the city of Boston, the same percentage would 
have been of German and Irish parentage. Can we not 
believe that the descendants of our Russian and Italian 
population are to make splendid citizens, provided the 
teachers are suitably encouraged through our school com- 
mittees and patriotic societies? 

On the walls of the Paul Revere Kindergarten are pict- 
ures of several American patriots, and when, during our 
visit, the teacher pointed to a picture and asked these 
children of foreign parents who it w^as, every hand in the 
Kindergarten went up, so anxious were the youngsters, 
now full-fledged Americans, to show that they knew. 
When the teacher asked a small Hebrew boy, he said, 
" General Prescott." The next child who caught the 
teacher's eye was a small Italian girl, who answered the 
teacher's question as to what General Prescott had once 
said : " Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes." 

So the exercises proceeded showing that these small tots 
were being started aright. I came away tremendously 
impressed with the good results of the patriotic work done 
in that school, and feeling optimistic as to our country's 
future. 



10 



The largest undertaking now in progress in Boston, 
when completed, will have over the door the name of a 
young man who came to this country penniless. 

A Boston pastor, as favorably known for his distin- 
guished ability as for the historical church over which he 
presides, landed in this country with six cents in his 
pocket ; to-day he is one of Harvard's overseers. 

The gentleman who will follow me will express to you 
the pleasure it gives our Society to join you here to-day, 
and I leave it for him to fittingly refer to the portrait of 
our first President, George Washington. 



Mr. Johnson : The next speaker is well known to the 
citizens of Worcester, a former member of the City Gov- 
ernment and of the General Court, and one who has done 
more, I think, than any other one person to bring about 
the matter which we celebrate here to-day — the presentation 
of these portraits. By his untiring zeal, unflagging indus- 
try and uniform good humor, he has brought about the 
gifts which we are to receive on this occasion. 

He is of distinguished ancestry, through many lines. 
His great-great-grandfather, about this time one hundred 
and twenty-nine years ago, was very busily engaged on the 
field of Bunker Hill, — that was Sergeant Timothy Thomp- 
son, and I have now the honor of introducing to you his 
descendant, lawyer, scholar, and author, Kben Francis 
Thompson. 

Mr. Thompson: 

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mayor, Fellow Citizens, Ladies and 
Gentlemen : — He would be bold indeed who would not be 
embarrassed by so eloquent an introduction. 

II 



The Society of the Sons of the Revolution is to-day yonr 
guest. Although we come bearing gifts, we feel sure that 
our coming occasions no undue apprehension. We have 
deferred, Mr. Chairman, to your suggestion that our simple 
gift should be fittingly accompanied by simple exercises; 
that these portraits which are to speak from the walls of 
Worcester schoolhouses in the years to come should be 
presented in a manner in some degree worthy of their 
subject. 

The Sons of the Revolution enrolls in its membership 
those descended from participants in our great Revolution- 
ary struggle, but its membership, we trust, is not a badge 
of heredity alone. We are engaged in a friendly and gen- 
erous rivalry with kindred and sister societies in the work 
of preserving the memorials of the historic past. And I 
would like to emphasize at this time the fact that we derive 
largely, our local inspiration at least, from the work of the 
women's societies. 

We come to-day as in the days of old, when transfers 
were made and a part delivered in token of the transfer of 
the whole, and make livery of seizin of this portrait for all 
that are to adorn the walls of Worcester's schoolhouses. 

In this splendid presence, when I consider that on this 
very platform sits one whom four score years have not 
bowed, and whose eye glows as with the fires of '76, — the 
son of a Revolutionary soldier, — I am reminded how close 
is our connection with the historic past. And when I con- 
sider that here, too, is a great publicist, a pilot whose chart 
has ever been the chart of Jefferson, and whose compass 
pointing to the pole star of Liberty was ever the compass 
of Washington, — by official denotement and universal ac- 
claim the first citizen of Massachusetts, and one of the few 



12 



of the world's great orators (Applause), I am counselled 
that I must be brief even if I may not preserve a golden 
silence. 

The character of Washington was too large, too well 
rounded for ready characterization. It cannot adequately 
be considered in the time allotted to me. He was disci- 
plined in a school of adversity. His life was filled with 
peril and adventure. His early service in the years pre- 
ceding the French and Indian War was amid constant 
danger in the lonely forest from the attacks of the treach- 
erous red man. In the disastrous campaign of Braddock 
he underwent the experience which was to steel his forti- 
tude for the trial of the Revolutionary conflict which was 
to follow. We see him amid the reverses and suffering at 
Valley Forge and through the long night before the dawn 
of Yorktown. 

That gracious presence was not unknown to Worcester, 
for on July ist, 1775, he came to this city on his way to 
Cambridge to take command of the American Armies, — 
and also in 1789, when he was met by Worcester citizens 
at the Leicester hills, on his journey to Cambridge, and 
rode through our streets, past the spot under the shadow 
of this very hill where, thirteen years before, the Declara- 
tion of Independence was first read in New England. 

The city of Worcester is famous as having a greater 
variety of production than any other city of its size in 
the world. Its manufactures range from those so small 
that their inspection involves the use of a microscope to 
those of such gigantic proportions that they tax modern 
transportation facilities. The sound of her looms is 
heard in every land wherever the rising or the setting 
sun gilds Christian spire or barbaric minaret, and her 



^3 



wire, like the famous belt of Puck, girdles the globe. 
With such manifestations of industrial progress shall 
she not still continue to stand for high ideals of civic 
righteousness? 

These portraits will speak not only to the children of 
those who have come across the sea, but to us, that we may 
renew our high ideals. 

Accept, then, Mr. Chairman, our simple gift in the spirit 
in which it is offered, in the hope that it may contribute 
its small part to the patriotic education of the youth of 
to-day who are to become the citizens of to-morrow. 



Mr. Johnson : Rev. Vincent B. Tomlinson, one of the 
most distinguished members of the committee, as he is 
one of the most eloquent clergymen of the city, will now 
respond on behalf of the school committee. 

Mr. Tomlinson : 

Mr. Chairman, Sons of the Revolution : — With a sense 
of deep gratitude and unalloyed appreciation we receive 
your noble gift. We recognize that it is as gracious as it 
is generous. There may be those in our goodly city who 
have wondered what was the aim of your body, but surely 
they cannot doubt how high it is and how noble, after this 
act of yours, — this patriotic and generous act ; for by it 
you have said to the people of this city, and to the people 
of this Commonwealth — for this is not an exceptional act 
on your part, but characteristic of what you are doing con- 
tinually — that your great aim is to perpetuate this nation 
of ours ; that you wish to see that this land which has 
been bequeathed to us by our fathers, — this good land, — 
is handed down to those who shall come after us, to be the 



same liome of peace and prosperity that we have found it ; 
and you have taken a means, it seems to me, most wise to 
do your part to preserve our nation. Knowing that the 
influence which is brought to bear upon the youth of the 
land is the strongest, — that in the formative period of life, 
impressions can be made that are lasting, — you have 
chosen this beautiful means of presenting our city over 
two score of these Gilbert Stuart portraits of the Father 
of his Country ; and I would have you, invited guests and 
friends, look beyond this room where we are gathered to 
see the large influence of this gift of yours. 

The reception of this gift to-day is representative. Mem- 
bers of the School Board, members of the City Govern- 
ment, members of all the schools, are present here, and in 
this representative way we receive very gratefully your 
gift. But we would have you look beyond this room. We 
would have you see the fifty school buildings, or more, 
in our city, whose walls will be graced with copies of this 
portrait which is before us. And we are glad to say to 
you that in each building where the portrait of President 
Washington is hung, appropriate exercises will be held ; 
and I think I can speak, in fact, I do speak for the School 
Board when I say that we invite your co-operation in this 
further work that lies with us, — that of suitably presenting 
these portraits to the schools of the city. We invite your 
help in this work that lies before us. With the opening 
of the school work in the fall, these gifts will be presented 
to the various schools and appropriate exercises will be 
held ; and you are to remember, too, that not only those 
who are of school age now, and who will be influenced by 
the words that shall be spoken in the presentation of these 
gifts are to be benefited by your act, but you are to look 

15 



further still and see the children of the coming generation, 
children yet unborn, who, gathering in our schools, will 
look upon that benign face and receive an inspiration of 
patriotism and love of country. For it seems to me that 
if we are to preserve our nation we must cherish those 
high ideals which have marked our fathers. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson spoke these noble words, '' What 
greater calamity can fall upon a nation than loss of rever- 
ence? Then all things go to decay. The eye of youth is 
not lighted by the hope of other worlds, and age is without 
honor. Society lives in trifles, and when men die we do 
not mention them." 

That our youth may be inspired with reverence, that 
they may have before them a high ideal of what it is to be 
an American citizen, you hang these portraits upon the 
walls of our schoolrooms. Blessing will attend and follow 
this act of yours. Many and many a life, I make bold to 
say, will be a better life because of what you have done for 
our city; and this city of ours, whose record is not a small 
one in patriotic deeds, responds most gratefully to this act 
of j^ours, and in behalf of the people of this city we extend 
to you our heartiest thanks. 



Mr. Johnson : The gentleman who will follow is triply 
honored, having had three grandfathers who were in the 
Revolution. I have the honor at this time to introduce to 
you the beloved superintendent of Worcester's schools. 
Homer P. Lewis. 

Mr. Lewis: 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : — I am afraid that in the 
interests of history I shall have to correct the impression 

i6 



whicli you may have received from my introduction. I only 
had two grandfathers, — three great-grandfathers in the 
revolutionary army. (Laughter.) 

It falls to me to speak briefly in behalf of the schools of 
Worcester, and to express our heartiest thanks to you. Sons 
of the Revolution, for these splendid gifts. They will not 
only adorn the walls of our schools. They will, — as has 
been said by one of the speakers, — speak from those walls, 
and they will speak of patriotism and of public virtue. 
They will, I hope, remind our children that such societies 
as yours exist to keep alive the memories, the best memo- 
ries, of our history. They can convey no better lesson ; 
and they will convey that lesson, I am sure, of duty to 
country, and of the consideration for the rights of all that 
may be derived from a study of Washington's life. 

"Custom cannot stale the infinite variety" of profit that 
may come from the study of Washington. 



Mr. Johnson : One of the important factors in the suc- 
cess of the Revolutionary War was the French Alliance. 
I suppose it is doubtful whether the effort of our fathers 
would have succeeded had it not been for the intervention 
of the Court of France ; and of all those who came in the 
company of soldiers from France none was more favored 
with the acquaintance, the friendship of Washington, than 
was Lafayette. He was the leader on his side in that 
great contest. Of his coming our own Emerson has sung: 

" Oh, bounteous seas that never fail, 

Oh, day remembered yet ; 
Oh, happy port that spied the sail 

That wafted Lafayette. 

" Pole-star of Light, in Europe's night, 
That never wandered from the right." 

17 



We have with us a member of the School Committee, 
descended from that distinguished race, and it now gives 
me pleasure to introduce to you Dr. Louis P. de Grandpre, 
who will speak to you, as I think they say in the com- 
mencement programmes, in lingua Gallica. 

Dr. de Grandpre: 

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen : — 
I deeply appreciate the invitation of Mr. Chairman to speak 
a few words in French. It is a great favor to me, although 
it may not be so great a favor to you; but I am sure that 
a great many of those who are here this afternoon under- 
stand French, namely, our esteemed citizens, Mr. Salis- 
biiry, Judge Forbes, whom I have had occasion to meet at 
L' Alliance Francais, and Mr. Thompson, whom you have 
just heard. 

I have an idea that Mr. Chairman, in inviting me to 
speak in French, did so in the interests of peace and har- 
mony, and I will tell you why, — because he knows that 
whenever I speak in English I have to take issue with 
Webster or Worcester on the question of pronunciation. 
Nevertheless, I am very hopeful. 

I wish to offer my most sincere thanks for his courtesy 
and for his homage to France and the French language. 
I don't know that the French language needs to have any 
excuses offered in its behalf for being spoken on an occa- 
sion such as this, when I consider that General Lafayette, 
at the different battles of the Revolutionary War, and 
especially at the battle of Yorktown, used to command his 
men in French. 

A young French officer desiring to enlist in the Ameri- 
can Army during the War of the Revolution was asked 



by General Washington the usual questions, — "Age?" 
"Twenty-nine," said the young officer. "Nationality?" 
" French." " Religion? " Then the young officer smilingly 
replied, — " General, if you ask me of what faith, of what 
creed I am, I answer that I am of the Catholic faith ; but 
if you ask me of what religion I am, I answer that I am, 
and so are my men, of the American religion." 

This answer. Ladies and Gentlemen, might apply to all 
those who inhabit this land of Liberty. Whatever may 
be our language, whatever may be our creed, our faith, — 
every one and all are of the same spirit, the same religion, 
the American religion. 

Mesdames et Messieurs: — On me prie de rappeler, en 
quelques mots, la part prise par la France dans la conquete 
de I'Independance Americaine. Malgre mon incompetence, 
j'accepte avec plaisir. C'est un hommage qu'on veut rendre 
a la France et la langue frangaise, parce que c'est en fran- 
cais qu'on m'invite a parler, 

De toutes les langues etrangeres parlees en ce pays, la 
langue fran^aise est la plus aimee et la plus recherchee. 

Si on admire la langue francaise, ses beautes, ses rich- 
esses, sa clarte et ses harmonies, c'est qu'on admire plus 
encore le peuple de genie qui a ecrit dans cette langue les 
plus grands chefs d'oeuvre de la pensee humaine ; les plus 
grands comme les plus nombreux. 

Au — dessus des droits a I'admiration que donnent a la 
France sa prodigieuse activite intellectuelle et son genie, 
se placent, pour le peuple americain, les droits qu'elle s'est 
acquis a sa reconnaissance. 

La France a ete bonne, elle a ete genereuse, elle a ete 
chevaleresque a I'egard des Btats Unis. 

Que vient-on nous parler de raisons d'Btat, de motifs 

19 



d'interet? Meme la France o£&cielle, representee par Roch- 
ambeau, a ete genereuse. 

La guerre americaine lui a coute la somme enorme, a 
Tepoque, de un milliard deux cent millions de francs, soit 
un pen plus de deux cent millions de dollars. Cette somme, 
il lui fallut I'emprunter. Les interets onereux de cette 
nouvelle charge produisirent un deficit considerable qui fut 
la cause principale de la convocation des Htats Generaux. 
Kt la convocation des Htats Generaux, on le sait, amena la 
chute la royaute. La monarchic francaise, en donnant 
naissance a la republique americaine, avait hate le moment 
de sa mort. 

Bt la France chevaleresque representee par Lafayette, 
obeissait elle a des considerations d'interet? 

"Mon cceur est enrole, je suis gagne a la cause ameri- 
caine," repondait Lafayette a Franklin lequel, tout en re- 
merciant Lafayette de ses off res de services, se croj^ait, tenu 
de lui representer la condition desesperee oil se trouvait 
I'armee americaine. 

"Votre cause est desesperee, dites-vous, c'est precise- 
mentle moment de lui venir en aide." . . . "Maisvous 
partez sans le consentement du roi. Vous vous exposez 
a la confiscation de vos biens. Puis nous n'avons pas 
seulement de vaisseaux a mettre a votre disposition." 

" Qu' a cela ne tienne, j'en freterai moi-meme, a mes 
propres frais." ..." Mais nous n'avons pas d'argent 
pour la solde de vos soldats." ..." Qu'importe, je 
les paierai moi-meme. J'affecte a cette fin la somme de 
deux cent cinquante mille francs." 

Qu'on me montre dans I'histoire un plus bel exemple 
de generosite. La vaillante epee de la France, dans I'es- 



20 



pace de trois quarts de siecle, a aide a briser les liens de 
deux peuples : Du peuple americain a Yorktown, et du 
peuple italien a Solferino. 

Combattre, comme Washington, pour I'independance 
de son pays est admirable, mais plus admirable encore 
est de combattre, comme Lafayette, pour la seule idee 
de Justice ! 

Kn 1783, se signait a Versailles un traite, le document 
historique le plus important des temps modemes, — le traite, 
qui, en reconnaissant I'independance des Btats-Unis, en 
faisant naitre a la liberte le peuple americain, devait de- 
placer le centre de gravite du monde. Ce traite fut signe 
par le France, par I'Angleterre et par les Btats-Unis. La 
jeune republique avait delegue, pour signer en son nom, 
trois representants, puis le president du congres devait 
contre signer. 

Concitoyens franco americains, ne nous est-il pas permis 
d'eprouver un sentiment de fierte en retrouvant au bas de 
ce traite de Versailles que j'appellerai I'acte de naissance 
de la Republique Americaine, en retrouvant, dis-je, sur 
quatre signatures, trois noms frangais, tons trois petit-fils 
de Francais venus de France a la suite de la revocation de 
I'edit de Nantes : Jobn Jay, Henry Laurens et Bdias 
Boudinot, le quatrieme est celui de I'immortel Benjamin 
Franklin. 

Le souvenir de la France merite de vivre etemellement 
dans le coeur des Americains. 

On se rappellera toujours qu' a I'epoque la plus sombre 
de la revolution, lorsque les soldats de Washington, ecrases 
sous le poids des privations, des miseres et de la faim 
voyaient s'evanouir tout espoir de succes, desesperaient de 
jamais voir se lever a leur horizon I'astre bienfaisant de la 



21 



liberte, — on se rappellera toujours qu'alors la France, 
comme un genie consolateur, appanit sur la scene et mit 
son epee et son or au service de notre cause, sauvant ainsi 
de la destruction I'arbre naissant de la liberte sur ce con- 
tinent. Qa ete le malheur de la France quelquefois mais 
ce sera sa gloire toujours d'avoir distribue ses sympathies 
son cceur, son sang partout 6u il y a eu des grandes causes 
a defendre. 



Mr. Johnson: The gentleman who is to follow is 
descended from Captain James Page, of the 4th Massa- 
chusetts Regiment in the Revolutionary Army. He is 
descended by four lines of descent from Revolutionary 
families. He is an artist of reputation, — known through- 
out the country, and I have great pleasure in introducing 
to you Walter Gilman Page, Registrar of the General 
Society of the Sons of the Revolution. 

Mr. Page: 

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen, Pupils 
of the Worcester Schools : — It gives me great pleasure to 
be present this afternoon to represent our National Society 
and to speak a brief word for Gilbert Stuart, one of the 
greatest of portrait painters, and certainly the greatest por- 
trait painter bom on this soil. 

As Americans, we shall ever be proud of our Washing- 
ton ; we shall ever be grateful. We shall, also, though in 
a lesser degree, be grateful for the man who, through his 
genius, perpetuated the features of our first President, not 
only for us, but for generations yet to come. 

There are altogether thirty known portraits of Wash- 
ington, covering a period of twenty-six years. As early 

22 



as May 15, 1785, Washington wrote as follows: "I am so 
inured to the touches of the painter's pencil that I am now 
altogether at their beck, and sit like Patience on a monu- 
ment whilst they are delineating the lines of my face. It 
is a proof of what habit and custom can effect. At first, I 
was as impatient at the request and at the results of the 
operation as could well be imagined. The next time, I 
consented very reluctantly. Now, no dray moves more 
readily to the thills than I do to the painter's chair.'' 

Gilbert Stuart was bom in Narragansett, Rhode Island, 
in 1755, and died in Boston in 1828. He had the usual 
difficulties of the embryo artist up to the time he was fif- 
teen years of age. About the year 1770, he became ac- 
quainted with a certain Cosmo Alexander, who came over 
to this country from London to spend a few months here, 
and on his return he took Stuart with him. Shortly after 
his return, Mr. Alexander died, and Stuart was obliged to 
return to America, as he was not sufficiently advanced in 
his profession to make his own way. He was fortunate 
enough upon his return to obtain some commissions and 
had fair success ; so much so that we find him once more, 
in three years, sailing for England, — leaving Boston about 
ten days before the Battle of Bunker Hill. He entered 
the studio of Benjamin West, at that time President of the 
Royal Academy, and also an American, as you know, — 
and from this date he began to reap fame and fortune, soon 
taking a place nearly equal to the best artists of his day; 
and there is no doubt that if he had remained in England 
he would have attained the highest rank among the artists 
of that country. 

Shortly after the close of the War of the Revolution, 
Stuart returned to America, and in this connection I should 

23 



like to quote from what another American artist, Wash- 
ington Allston, wrote, shortly after Stuart's death: "But 
admired and patronized as he was, he chose to return to 
his native country. He was impelled to this step, as he 
often declared, by the desire to give to America a faithful 
portrait of Washington, and thus, in some measure, to 
associate his own with the name of the Father of his Coun- 
try." We see that his ambition was justified in the sub- 
lime head which he has left to us. 

Gilbert Stuart was not only one of the first painters of 
his time, but must have been admitted by all who had the 
opportunity of knowing him to have been, whatever his 
art, an extraordinary man, — one who would have found 
distinction in any profession or walk of life. His mind 
was of a strong and original cast ; his perceptions as clear 
as they were just, and in the power of illustration he has 
rarel}'^ been equalled. On almost every subject, more es- 
peciall}' on such as were connected with his art, his con- 
versation w^as marked by wisdom and knowledge, — while 
the uncommon precision and elegance of his language 
seemed even to receive an additional grace from his man- 
ner, which was that of the well-bred gentleman. Narra- 
tions and anecdotes with which his knowledge of men of 
the world had stored his memory, and which he often gave 
with great beauty and dramatic effect, were not infrequently 
employed by Mr. Stuart in a way and with an address 
peculiar to himself. From this store it was his custom to 
draw largely while occupied with his sitters, apparently 
for their amusement, but really for the purpose of calling 
to the surface some trace of the natural character. But 
these glimpses of character, mixed as they are in all re- 
spects with so much that belongs to every age and zone, 

24 



would be of little use to the ordinary observer, — for tbe 
faculty of distinguishing between the responsive and per- 
manent — in other words, between the conventional expres- 
sion which lies very close to the special indication of the 
individual mind is indeed no common one ; and by no one 
with whom we are acquainted was this faculty possessed 
in so marked a degree. 

It was this which enabled him to animate his canvas, 
not with the appearance of mere general life, but with that 
peculiar life which separates the humblest individual from 
his kind. Were other evidence wanting, this evidence 
alone would establish his position as a man of genius, in 
that it is the privilege of genius, alas, to measure happi- 
ness the highest and the lowest. In his art there has no 
one ever surpassed him in embodying, if we may so speak, 
these transient apparitions of the soul. In a word, Gilbert 
Stuart was, in its widest sense, a philosopher in his art. 
He really understood its principles, as his works bear wit- 
ness, — whether as to lines and colors or lights and shad- 
ows, — showing that sense of perception of the whole which 
stamps the man of genius. He never allowed the miscel- 
laneous troubles of his life to tinge his work with the 
least shadow of jealousy, and where praise was due he 
gave it freely, and with a generosity that showed he had a 
pleasure in praising. To the younger artists he was uni- 
formly kind and indulgent, and most liberal of his advice, 
which no one ever properly asked but that he received it 
in a manner no less courteous than impressive. 

He first met his illustrious subject at an evening recep- 
tion, and accustomed as Stuart was to eminent men, he 
often said that no living man ever inspired such a feeling 
of reverence ; and it was not until he had had several inter- 

25 



views that he was able to feel that he could give the requi- 
site concentration of mind to his work. 

At this time he received a very flattering commission 
from the city of Halifax to paint the portrait of the Duke 
of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, and a ship of war was 
placed at his disposal to convey him to Halifax, but he 
declined this honor. 

Stuart painted his portrait of Washington in Philadel- 
phia in a house which is still standing on the corner of 
Fifth and Chestnut streets. The original portrait from 
which this reproduction is taken is not finished. So far 
as the face is concerned, it is. The reproduction does not 
show as much as the original canvas. The reason for this 
portrait not having been finished was that Stuart, after he 
had completed the head, found that making replicas, or 
copies, was a great source of income to him. Washington 
willingly consented to accept a copy in place of this por- 
trait. Stuart also had a strong desire to retain the original 
that he might leave it to his family upon his death. After 
Stuart's death, the original portrait was sold by his widow 
to a number of gentlemen, who, in turn, presented it to 
the Boston Athenseum, — hence it has attained the desig- 
nation of the Athenaeum portrait of Washington. 

In concluding, no better word has been said for this 
portrait than what has been said by Washington Allston, 
that "A nobler personification of wisdom and goodness, 
reposing in the majesty of a serene countenance, is not to 
be found on canvas." 



Mr. Johnson: — There is one part not on the pro- 
gramme which I think you are all waiting for and would 
be glad to hear. Mr. Thompson has most eloquently 

26 



alluded to a son of the Revolution here present. We have 
with us an eminent son of the Revolution, — a descendant 
of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, — our 
own distinguished fellow townsman. Senator Hoar, de- 
scendant of Samuel Adams and of Roger Sherman; we 
all desire to hear him, I am sure. 



Mr. Hoar: 

Mr. President, I am very much obliged to you for your 
kind introduction, but I am not entitled to claim any share 
in the light of Samuel Adams. (Laughter.) 

I did what almost everybody who is stationed here to- 
day did in the time of the Revolutionary War. I put in 
all the grandfathers I had (Applause), and one of them to 
whom your Chairman has alluded signed the Declaration 
of Independence and was on the committee that brought 
it in ; and the other was at Concord Bridge before sunrise 
on the nineteenth of April, with his father and his father- 
in-law and two brothers-in-law under his command in the 
company of which he was lieutenant. And my mother 
had three brothers who were majors or captains in the 
Revolutionary War. One of them commanded a Connec- 
ticut regiment at the storming of Stony Point. So the tra- 
ditions of my household are satisfactory, and I think I am 
a member of the Sons of the Revolution by a fair heredi- 
tary title, — but I ought to say in all fairness that nearly 
every Massachusetts man, every New England man of 
Revolutionary descent, can tell about as good a story. If 
I go down to Middlesex and begin to brag about my ances- 
tors, there is always some gentleman sitting on the right 
hand or the left who trumps my trick every time. But I 
27 



have one title, perhaps, which I may mention on this occa- 
sion which will be hard to match, and that is that m}^ 
mother sat in George Washington's lap when she was a 
little girl ; and if there are any of you who have a kins- 
woman who sat on a more costl}^ or precious throne than 
that, 3^ou may be delighted to show 3'our title. 

The General, on his journe}'- in 1789, was a guest at my 
grandfather's house in New Haven, and, as I said, my 
mother, ^vho was a little girl six j^ears old, sat in his 
lap, and remembered until she was eightj^-'three, when she 
died, the whole circumstance and detail of the occasion as 
if it had been the day before. Perhaps one stor}^ connected 
with that visit may be worth telling. My mother had a 
little sister who was eleven 3^ears old, and who of course 
was dressed in her best for the occasion, and when the 
General w^ent out, my grandfather stood talking in the 
front entry with him, and this little girl opened the door. 
General Washington was ver}- fond of children and like 
all good and sensible men he liked little girls much the 
better (Laughter), and he put his hand on her head and 
said, " M}^ little lad}^ I wish you a better office." She 
dropped a courtes}- and answered as quick as lightning, 
"Yes sir, to let 3'ou in." 

Now, as has well been said b3' the speakers who have pre- 
ceded me, these pictures of General Washington are to 
speak to you bo3's and girls for man3^ a 3"ear to come. 
What is it that the3' are to sa3'? The living speaker sa3^s 
what he thinks of to sa3'' ; but these pictured lips will say 
to you a good deal that they will reflect through 3'OU. It 
will depend upon 3'ou what lesson 3'OU get from looking 
at the picture of George Washington. But there is one 
thing 3''ou want to be sure, all of 3"ou, to think of and to 



know : George Washington by the common consent of all 
mankind was the greatest and best man who ever lived on 
this earth who was a ruler of the people. Englishmen 
and Germans and Frenchmen all agree with his own coun- 
trymen in that estimate of him. As the old monk said of 
King Alfred, "He is among the rulers of mankind better 
than any of the past ones and greater than any that are 
to come," The old world knew not his peer, and the new 
world w411 never give us his equal. And yet there is not 
a single thing about George Washington that is uncom- 
mon, except his absolute goodness. He was not a man of 
genius. He was not a poet or an enthusiast or an orator 
or an inventor. He was a good general, but he was not a 
Napoleon nor a Julius Caesar nor a Hannibal. It was 
simple, every-day, common-place, corner-stone virtue; the 
virtues that make the happiness and the safety of every 
house : the virtues that you like to think of in your father 
and mother aud sister and brother, — the commonest virtues 
of common human nature, that made George Washington ; 
prudence and patience and veracity. He not only could 
not tell a lie, but he could not think a lie or act a lie or con- 
ceal a lie. He said, himself, in his old age that he never 
had broken his word to anybody in his life, and it was true. 
He was patient under the little and the great troubles of 
life. He was faithful, and that is what made George 
Washington. As one of the speakers told you, he schooled 
himself to submit to what I think is perhaps the most try- 
ing ordeal that most men have to submit to in public life, 
— that is, having his portrait painted. Why, Walter Scott, 
who used to have his portrait painted so frequently, says 
in his diary, that he schooled himself to stand it pretty well, 
but that his dog Camp, who was a favorite and a very in- 
29 



telligent dog, when he saw an artist coming up the avenue 
with an easel, — the dog used to be painted with Sir Walter, 
— would put his tail between his legs and scud off and not 
come back for a fortnight (Laughter). Now that is 
what has made George Washington the hero not only of 
America but of mankind, because he is the most perfect 
example known to humanity of what every man, woman 
and child can be. 

You ask people what they think made up the character 
of George Washington, and every man and woman will 
answer the character that he or she has been in the habit 
of finding most agreeable to encounter in his or her life. 
I heard of a very worthy old lady in rather straitened cir- 
cumstances some years ago, and somebody living in a 
country town asked her what sort of person she thought 
General Washington was. " Well," said she, " I suppose 
he was a person who would have been willing to lend a 
neighbor anything he had that she wanted to borrow." 
(Laughter.) 

Professor Gallaudet, a good friend of mine in Washing- 
ton, the head of a great college there for the deaf and 
dumb, told me a touching story which illustrates what I 
have been showing. He had a little boy among his pupils, 
— a little fellow born deaf and dumb, five or six years old. 
He was very bright and precocious and the Professor was 
very fond of him, and he was very fond of Dr. Gallaudet, 
and they used to like to talk together; one day they were 
talking, and he asked the little boy if he knew the story 
of General Washington and the hatchet, and the little fel- 
low said he did, — telling it off with his fingers. " Well," 
said my friend when he told it to me, " so the little chap 
began to tell the story, and when he got to the right place 

30 



in the story he said, 'and he took the hatchet in his left 
hand and he said to his father' — the Professor interrupted 
him, — " What did he take the hatchet in his left hand for? " 
"Why, he wanted his right to tell him with!" The 
poor little fellow thought, of course, that General Wash- 
ington was deaf and dumb. I might, I suppose, spend a 
week in talking over General Washington, but I will not 
any further impair the exquisite success of this occasion. 
It is one of the most beautiful and successful occasions I 
ever knew, — and the occasion owes its beauty and its suc- 
cess to this, — that there have been eight speakers, every 
one of them within the time assigned, and every one of 
them making such a speech that all the audience wished 
it were longer ; and when our excellent friend, our French 
physician, finished his, I think we all of us wanted to say, 
"Oui, Monsieur, tres bon, encore." 



At the conclusion of the exercises, carriages were taken 
for the Worcester Club where the of&cers of the Society 
and the Special Committees were entertained as guests by 
a few members of the Society of Sons of the Revolution. 



31 



The Commonwealth Press 
worcester 



Jf iv 



^' 






,^ 



,^-' ^: 









>, 



I ' * * 



..0^ 



.^''V 



^.^ ' o « o ' 



Nf, 



%'■■" A 



■<{)' - « ^ 



-^^^^^ 






